Sulphur and nitrogen emissions continue to fall in EU-15

Emissions of nitrogen oxides are down by 30% since the early 1990’s, according to a report released today by the European Environment Agency. The report, ‘Annual European Community LRTAP Convention emission inventory 1990-2004’ also says that emissions of sulphur (SOx) as reported by Member States dropped by 70% between 1990 and 2004 within the EU-15.

Emissions reductions took place in many of the sectors reported by
countries – transport, energy, agriculture and waste, and at EU-15
level emission reductions were recorded with other main air pollutants
- carbon monoxide (-50%) ammonia (-8%) and Non methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOC) (-45%).

The inventory report shows emission trends and data availability for
the EU-25, and is published annually. Data from Member States are
compiled by the European Environment Agency on behalf of the European
Commission as part of the Community’s legal reporting obligations for
the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on
Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (UNECE LRTAP Convention). This
report therefore specifically documents the emissions data officially
reported by Member States. Other EEA publications provide an assessment
of why changes in the reported emissions have occurred.

In several instances, total emissions of air pollutants for the EU-25
were not fully estimated due to a lack of data. As a result, future
recommendations include improving the completeness of submissions
received from Member States as well as developing more formal quality
assurance procedures.